If you want to take your business to the next level, you may be starting to think about how you can accept payments globally. This can be a really lucrative business move as you will open yourself up to a whole load of potential customers; however, it’s not as easy as simply offering your products to be shipped abroad. One of the most difficult things, logistically, that you have to iron out, is how to accept payments globally, while making sure that the customer has the best experience, you as a business don’t lose anything, and you are complying with the rules and regulations for businesses in different countries. There is a lot to consider!
Multi-Currency Payment Processing
If you’ve ever been on a website and found that everything is in a currency different from your own, you will know how much this can put you off. You don’t want to spend time working out the conversion rate only to find that the company has worked it out differently so you end up paying more anyway. A large number of charge-backs are due to this process – where the end price ends up being a lot more in a different currency than the customer expected to pay.
You want a system that allows the user to change the currency that they are viewing products in seamlessly, so that they can see exactly how much they are going to pay for the product. This is something that needs to be automatically updated daily, according to the exchange rate, and for your own records and projections, having the money deposited to you in your home currency makes a huge difference.
It may be tempting to just set up as being able to accept any currency, and ship anywhere, but it isn’t as simple as that and each different currency will require some additional paperwork. It’s important to check that it will be worth it in the long run, especially considering the different laws of each country.
Laws and Regulations
This is one of the most important (and potentially challenging) parts of selling overseas – ensuring that you comply with the individual laws and regulations of each country. This includes tax protocols, packaging standards, bank mandates, and safety and security rules. Remember that each country will be slightly different and so it is imperative that you do your research before branching out into other areas. The fines for not complying with these laws are vast and could very well cost you your business, so it’s important that you seek some advice and support to ensure you know what you’re doing ahead of time.
As you can see, there is a lot to consider before accepting global payments but if you set it up right, do your market research, and adhere to the laws of each country, there is no reason it can’t be a huge success going forward.
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